| Noonans (formerly Dix Noonan Webb) > Auction 292 | Auction date: 6 March 2024 |
| Lot number: 376 Price realized: 130 GBP (Approx. 166 USD / 152 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: The Silich Collection of Historical and Art Medals Simmons, Mary Ann (British, 1959-present); b. Vancouver, emigrated to United Kingdom 1988 ENGLAND, The Fourth Service 1939-1945, 2002, a cast bronze medal by Mary Ann Simmons [Crucible Foundry] for the British Art Medal Society, concentric radiating waves, rev. map of the Western Atlantic approaches and the Rockall Trough, site of the first vessel to be sunk by a U-boat on the first day of World War II, edge highlight-impressed the fourth service 1939-1945 between the points of the compass, highlight notches on upper reverse edge, 90mm, 545.65g (The Medal 41, pp.118-19). Extremely fine, as made, a poignant medal, very rare; in black pouch of issue £100-£150 --- Provenance: bt BAMS, April 2003 Edition of 10. The medal commemorates the role of the Merchant Navy as the 'fourth service' during World War II. The reverse alludes to the sinking of the passenger liner Athenia, outbound from Liverpool to Montreal, torpedoed by U-30 220 miles north-west of Ireland at 7.30pm on 3 September 1939, the day that Britain declared war with Germany, with the loss of 117 lives. For a full description of the background to the issue of the medal and for an explanation of the notches on the upper part of the reverse, see The Medal 41, p.118. |  |
Match 1:
| Noonans (formerly Dix Noonan Webb) > Auction 292 | Auction date: 6 March 2024 |
| Lot number: 281 Price realized: 900 GBP (Approx. 1,147 USD / 1,052 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: The Silich Collection of Historical and Art Medals Morgan, George Thomas (British, 1845-1925); b. Birmingham, emigrated to the United States of America 1876 ENGLAND, David Roberts, 1875, a silver medal by G.T. Morgan for the Art Union of London, bust left, rev. Moorish scribe addressing a seated female at left, a scene taken from one of Roberts' paintings, 56mm, 92.47g (Beaulah 22; BHM 3016; BDM IV, 148; E 1649). Small reverse rim bruise at 12 o'clock, otherwise brilliant and virtually as struck, very rare; perhaps only 30 struck and awarded as prizes by the Union in 1875 £300-£400 --- David Roberts (1796-1864) was a Scottish painter, much of his work depicting scenes from the Middle and Near East. |  |
Match 2:
| Noonans (formerly Dix Noonan Webb) > Auction 292 | Auction date: 6 March 2024 |
| Lot number: 206 Price realized: 180 GBP (Approx. 229 USD / 210 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: The Silich Collection of Historical and Art Medals Jung, Kyosun (South Korean, 1984-present); b. Seoul, emigrated to England 2010 ENGLAND, Ivory Exploitation, 2013, a cast silver-plated bronze medal by Kyosun Jung [BAC Casting], forepart of an aged and sad elephant right, without tusks, rev. elephant's trunk embellished with legend thousands of elephants die each year so that their tusks can be carved into religious objects. can the slaughter be stopped?, 100mm, 641.77g (The Medal 63, p.61). Extremely fine, UNIQUE £300-£400 --- Provenance: from the artist to Frances Simmons; bt Simmons, December 2015 This medal was entered in the 2013 British Art Medal Society Student Medal Project. Out of 125 design submissions, it won for the artist the Pangolin Editions Prize for modelling and lettering, among the first of many awards bestowed on this artist. Only five of these medals were made, one in silver (The Goldsmiths' Company), one silver-plated (the present specimen) and three in bronze (sold to private clients of the artist). A detailed analysis of the metal in this medal (75.8% silver, 13.1% copper, 9.1% tin) is sold with the lot. |  |
Match 3:
| Noonans (formerly Dix Noonan Webb) > Auction 292 | Auction date: 6 March 2024 |
| Lot number: 392 Price realized: 2,000 GBP (Approx. 2,549 USD / 2,337 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: The Silich Collection of Historical and Art Medals Tanavoli, Parviz (Iranian/Canadian, 1937-present); b. Tehran, emigrated to Italy 1956, then to the United States of America 1961, returned to Iran 1964, since 1979 in Canada and Iran ENGLAND/IRAN, Hands and Grille I, 2006, a cast gilt-bronze openwork plaque by P. Tanavoli [Sarber Jewellers, Vancouver] for the British Art Medal Society, hands clinging to a grille, rev. tips of fingers on grille bars, 91 x 63mm, 146.10g (The Medal 50, p.95, and illustrated on the covers; Leavitt Bourne, The Medal 50, p.66, 2; cf. Baxter Coll., Ewbank's, 23 June 2022, 3158A; cf. Lodge & Thomas 1 Sept. 2023, 17). Brilliant, as made, very rare; an extremely significant modern sculptural piece £200-£400 --- The concept behind the obverse is inspired by Shi'ite Muslims who visit shrines, put their hands on the grilles, say their vows, and pray and talk to their imam. The reverse indicates the view across the tomb, seeing on the opposite side of the grille all the fingers of those praying. For further detail on this and other works by the artist, see Marcy Leavitt Bourne, The Medal 50, pp.64-74. |  |
Match 4:
| Noonans (formerly Dix Noonan Webb) > Auction 292 | Auction date: 6 March 2024 |
| Lot number: 149 Price realized: 200 GBP (Approx. 255 USD / 234 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: The Silich Collection of Historical and Art Medals Fountain, Marian (New Zealander, 1960-present); b. Papatoetoe, emigrated to England 1984, moved to Italy 1985, then France 1990 ENGLAND, The Muse and the Mother, 1990, a cast bronze medal with gilt highlights by Marian Fountain for the British Art Medal Society, naked muse to front, holding life cord as a skipping rope, rev. naked female with life cord entangled in her baby in foreground, 115 x 98mm, 383.49g (Attwood 72; The Medal 18, p.124; cf. DNW 127, 3198). Extremely fine £90-£120 --- Provenance: bt A.C. Eimer, August 2001 Edition of 42. The medal takes its title from a metaphor of two states of womanhood. |  |
Match 5:
| Noonans (formerly Dix Noonan Webb) > Auction 292 | Auction date: 6 March 2024 |
| Lot number: 203 Price realized: 300 GBP (Approx. 382 USD / 351 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: The Silich Collection of Historical and Art Medals Jones, Mark Andrew (British, 1959-present); b. Aberdare ENGLAND, Dr David Kelly, 2008, a cast bronze medal by M.A. Jones [AB Fine Art], bust facing, head turned slightly to right, rev. the machinery of war, in the form of cogs and spanners incorporating a horned skull and a devil's head, edge engraved Jones and impressed 2/50, 70mm, 254.46g (The Medal 53, p.71; E 2223). Extremely fine, rare £40-£50 --- Provenance: bt Simmons, July 2010 Edition of 50. David Christopher Kelly, CMG (1944-2003), a British government scientist and former head of the Defence Microbiology Division working at Porton Down, committed suicide after his doubts over official claims regarding Iraq's weapons of mass destruction entered the public arena. The medals were cast in April 2008. |  |
